So it Goes
by Eternal Nightingale
Summary: AU IchiRuki."I suppose we were meant to meet like we did, eh Ichigo?" A witch and a boy, and so they meet.


**I did this for a contest in a Bleach forum. It's the most awesome place and has the coolest IchiRuki FC you will ever see. So if you're familiar with Bleach Asylum, go join now!! **

**Anyways though, I have no chance of winning anything, the members in that club are genius writers I tell you! My skills are mediocre at best compared to them, but I need the practice on this pairing. **

**Even if I don't win, I do hope they enjoy this story. I tried my best, though it's clear I need even more practice with them. **

**This is an AU to follow with the themes the FC has chosen, if you don't enjoy the idea I'm about to state, then I'd leave now. You'll be bored within five minutes lol.**

**Rukia, a witch, meets up with Ichigo.**

**I moved around with the theme a bit, and I hope they don't mind. Their actual first meeting is in the middle of the story...in a flashback. The ending could use more work as well, but I don't really have anymore free time for this. I have a school project calling to be done. **

**Hope you enjoy the story!**

**Disclaimer: Bleach isn't mine. As I'd be awesome enough to own that. **

_"I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but almost always end up where I need to be."  
-Douglas Adams_

* * *

"They've been searching the woods more frequently now."

The thump of a heavy book landing on a table resounds across a small room.

"Yes, so it seems."

Another thump is heard, and the sound of small feet making their way towards a large shelf full of fresh medicinal herbs.

"How can you be so damn calm about this?!" An angry voice breaks through the peaceful silence of the small room.

"Ichigo, don't yell. You'll wake up my rabbits."

The feet make their way back to the table, and stop in front of the hunched figure of a young orange haired man.

"Damn it Rukia, stop trying to change the subject." The young man retorts, his brown gaze turning upwards to look at the short violet eyed woman in front of him.

Said woman raises a delicate eyebrow as he gives her a glare. She sighs, rolls her eyes, and then snorts as she keeps walking back to the table.

"You humans worry too easily." Her dainty hands place the veils of herbs on the table and she opens one of the books. "Tell me Ichigo, why shouldn't I be calm about this?"

She hears a grunt from behind her as the young man shifts position on the large rocking chair he is currently sitting on.

"They're looking for your kind Rukia, shouldn't that be enough to be worried?"

Though she couldn't see the scowl on his face, even if her back was facing him, she could hear the apprehension in his voice. She let a small smile form on her lips.

'Humans are such strange beings, I still find it hard to believe I was once one myself.'

Her finger glides down an old page of the book, her eyes searching for the concoction she was hoping to make. She could tell the boy was getting annoyed from her lack of an answer to his question. He was tapping his foot against the old wooden boards of her floor rather loudly and rapidly.

Her own annoyance began to grow as she felt his pace increase. Her finger began to shake, and her eyes shut tightly as she resisted the urge to choke the young man.

"Would you stop that aggravating tapping Ichigo? It is getting you nowhere, believe me."

The young man snorted and leaned back on the rocking chair. "Then answer me and I'll fucking stop."

Rukia sighs again and closes the book in front of her loudly. "There's nothing for me to worry about as long as I stay hidden from those villagers you call neighbors."

Ichigo stares at the short woman in stunned silence. Was she serious?

"You've got to be shitting me Rukia! Like that's really going to work in the current situation we're all in!"

His brown eyes intensify with anger as he gets up from the rocking chair and heads towards the petite woman.

"A lot of others have done what you're doing now, and they've been caught by the villagers! You can't stay here and be gullible enough to believe nothing will happen to you and that they won't find you."

Though the young man towers over her by a good foot, her own violet eyes are intense with anger as she lets him speak. Her head held high she waits for him to finish before speaking calmly.

"Fool. You forget that those 'others' are mere novices when compared to me." She frowns as she sees his scowl deepen. "I'm a witch of experience Ichigo, I've been alive for much longer than you and those villagers. And it's not because I'm gullible, as you have so dubbed me, that's kept me alive and out of danger for so long."

She shakes her head as he tries to talk back. "Don't insult me Ichigo. I shall be fine."

She turns back around and returns to her previous task of finding the concoction she needed to make. She ignores the goosebumps crawling all over her body as she feels his gaze penetrating her back.

"What if they still find you...what if, you let your guard down for just a second and they...capture you? What if they...hang..." He leaves his sentence unfinished

Rukia lets her eyes soften slightly at the tired tone of his voice. He sounded so much older than he was. A mere fifteen year old boy and already worrying himself to this degree.

'What have I done to deserve this boy's kindness?'

Her lips form a bitter smile as she turns a page in her book.

"Well then, I'll just have to never let my guard down right?"

Her finger glides down the page again and stops at the name of the concoction she was searching for. She lets her tense shoulders relax and she turns to give the young man her full attention. His tall, lanky body forms a shadow beneath her floor, as his brown eyes stare at her with the same worry as earlier.

"Besides I have a guardian at every corner..." She smiles as he eyes become curious. "protecting me from any danger. With that and my magic on my side, what do I really need to worry about?"

The implications of her sentence finally reach him as a small blush covers his face and he turns away from her gaze. He pouts childishly and folds his arms across his chest. She chuckles and turns back around to begin preparing the medicine.

"You know..." He finally speaks again. "Just because you've got me by your side doesn't mean you're out of danger. I might not be able to...protect you this time."

An exasperated smile covers her face as she hears him slump back down onto the rocking chair. She could already see his blush diminishing and his eyes gaining back that look of doubt.

"I trust you with my life Ichigo. And that is enough for me."

His eyes widen in surprise at her calm and confident tone. As the surprise wears off he lets a small smirk appear on his lips and he leans his elbows on his two knees.

"You're one weird witch Rukia, but...thanks."

"Hm." was all she said before focusing on the medicine on her table.

An hour passes by in a calm quiet. Ichigo watching Rukia as she worked her magic on the medicinal herbs in her hands. He would ask her questions from time to time, and on occasion, if the question wasn't idiotic in her eyes, she would answer. He would bring up the witch hunt at random times, but the woman would send him a threatening glare that would silence him before he could continue.

A puff of smoke suddenly appears from the small cauldron Rukia had placed awhile back and Ichigo watches as the smoke forms a small butterfly before evaporating into the air. His brown eyes blink to prevent the extra smoke from entering and irritating his eyes.

"All done. This potion should help your sister feel all better within a day."

Rukia blows the smoke gently away and pours the clear liquid into a small glass bottle. She wraps it with a small blue cloth and ties it with a small black string. She twirls around and points to the bottle in her hand.

"Well, don't just stand there." She laughs as Ichigo grumbles to himself and stands to retrieve the small glass bottle.

"You sure it'll only take a day for Yuzu to get better?" He asks, doubt etched in his voice.

"Of course you idiot. I didn't spend all of my good herbs on some potion that won't work."

Ichigo stares at the clear liquid floating in the small veil. His brown eyes get a gleam of mischief as he smirks and looks down at the small witch.

"So you used all of your good herbs for my sake?" his smirk widened as he spotted a tinge of pink begin to appear on the woman's pale cheeks.

"Ah, so you did do it for my..." Ichigo failed to finish his sentence as a foot made contact with his shin.

"Don't be so self-centered you fool. As if I'd ever do something for your sake. I used my good herbs for Yuzu, nothing more nothing less." She scowls as he rubs his injured shin.

"I was just freaking poking fun at you, no need to get violent midget!" He yelled as pushed past her to get to the small exit of the cabin.

Rukia glares at the young man's back as he opens the old wooden door, a creaking sound echoing throughout the cabin as he did so.

"You're lucky you're of some use to me you annoying brat, or I would've turned you into a frog ages ago." She spoke out angrily.

Ichigo chuckled lightly as he blocked the sun's rays from his eyes. He turned his head slightly to look at her and said.

"Glad I'm useful then."

Her seething mood slowly faded as she watched him send her his signature half smile, half smirk. She sent him her own smile and let her violet eyes lose the fire of annoyance it once held.

He nodded towards her and began to step outside when he suddenly stopped his movements.

A look of confusion crossed on Rukia's face as his entire body seemed to become rigid. Her violet eyes narrowed in question as he sighed and let his body slouch.

"Rukia..." his voice suddenly sounded so small, and so weak. It scared the witch for a moment.

She took a few steps forward and let her gaze linger on his back.

"What is it?" She asked, a tinge of uncertainty in her voice.

Something was troubling him, Ichigo was never one to be easily troubled over things.

"Be careful." was all he said before leaving her cabin. His shadow leaving an empty and bright spot on her opened doorway.

She smiled softly at his simple words. He was worried for her, and while he wasn't around, he wanted to make sure she took care of herself. She shook her head and closed her door quietly.

"That fool was never one for words."

--

She could hear the sound of her shoes as they made impact after impact on the hard cold ground. She was pretty sure her feet and ankles were covered with clumps of dirt, scrapes and scratches. She slowed down as she spotted a part of the forest floor sloping downward. Her pale and shaking hands grabbed onto the bark of an oak tree and she let oxygen finally enter her lungs properly. Her legs wobbled and she had no choice but to collapse and lean against the tree. Her violet eyes scanned the area behind her, hoping not to spot the bright orange glow of torches nearing her location. She let a deep sigh of relief escape her lips as the sounds of the villagers yells grew more faint by the minute.

As the last sounds of screams and yells vanished into the cool night air, Rukia held the dark burgundy cloak around her shoulders tightly. Her whole body trembled as the adrenaline in her system slowly began to decrease. She was exhausted, but she knew they'd be back again. If she didn't hurry up and leave they would find her for sure.

"Ichigo was right, I've let myself become too gullible with the villagers intention on my kind." her lips quiver as the reality finally settles into her mind.

She was being chased, and Rukia was losing hope of truly being able to escape them this time.

Tears of anger at herself and her stupidity began to fall down her cheeks. She had let her guard down. Hoping she could deliver a set of tea remedies she had recently made to a sick elderly couple, she had walked right into their hands. She even thought she had picked a perfect time for her to make her secret delivery, right before the evening, when most families were settling in to eat and sleep. She should have listened and been careful of her actions.

They had been more resolved in capturing all the witches, than she had first believed. Years ago a situation such as this was something she could easily escape from. The villagers back then weren't as persistent with their chases as these were. It appears she has underestimated them as well.

The witch yanked out a handful of old dead grass as she berated herself for being so weak and so dumb.

'I should have known the council men would use those poor elderly couple to lure me in and capture me. I've been a fool beyond compare to actually think I could help these humans see the goodness in witches.'

Rukia let the breeze of the night blow away her tangled black hair away from her distorted and pained violet eyes. For the first time since becoming a witch, she felt so lost, so afraid, so...defeated.

What was she going to do? One simple little mistake on her part, might now cost her her life. Not even Ichigo could help her out of this.

Her eyelids drooped slightly and her expression saddened.

"Ichigo..." the sound of her voice saying his name seemed to calm her down.

She closed her eyes, and let her breathing finally slow down. A twisted, bitter smile appeared on her face.

Rukia was a witch with a sense of duty and pride. She never wavered in the hands of the prejudice she received from those villagers, otherwise, she would've been dead long ago.

Now though, now the feelings of the past hour had overwhelmed her. She was at the end of the line. What could she do? Her magic was to be used for good, she refused to use it against a human life. She would never degrade herself to that level.

Even if she could, her body was too exhausted to use proper magic on them. Spells wouldn't help her now.

"It seems...I won't be able to follow through with your request Ichigo..." the bitter smile never leaving, Rukia leaned her head against the tree trunk.

It seemed she had no choice anymore.She accepted her defeat. She had made the mistake, and now there was nothing she could do but wait for them to find her.

'Be careful.'

His voice echoed in her head, as the exhaustion of her run overcame her and she slowly drifted off.

--

_She remembered the day she met him. It was still fresh on her mind as if they had both met just yesterday._

_It was never a normal occurrence to find a human, let alone a human child, so deep in the woods where she had resided for most of her life._

_So she was surprised to find one as she made her daily routes to her wild garden of medicinal herbs._

_The boy himself was not a normal human child either. It wasn't just his unusual bright orange hair, though she had found it quite cute. The boy seemed to have had a permanent scowl etched on his face. Even as he spotted her walking towards him, his scowl remained._

_He was afraid though, his brown eyes expressed that very clearly._

_She had slowed her steps, and made her way to him cautiously until she was standing just in front of him._

_Her violet eyes had quickly found the source of why he was leaning against the tree. His leg had a deep gash from his knee to lower leg. He had bled profusely, and she could tell he was beginning to lose consciousness_

_She bent down and smiled at him as he tried to deepen his scowl. His leg jerked as she stretched out her hand to try and examine it._

_"I won't hurt you, I promise." she smiled at him again, her eyes meeting his own fearful ones. "Please, let me see your leg."_

_She could still see the blush on Ichigo's face as he watched her check his leg. He was still as much of a normal bashful ten year old boy as any other._

_"C-Can you fix it? I have to get home or dad'll get mad." She was surprised to hear his voice, but continued on with her inspection._

_"I'll wrap up the leg for you and take you to your home myself." She whispered as her hand dove into her basket and took out a balm she used on infected cuts._

_"This will have to do..." her eyes wandered back up to the young boy. "What's your name little guy?"_

_His eyes, which had seemed relaxed, returned to their scowl as he shoved away his leg. "I'm not little you old hag!"_

_Rukia's eye twitched as she yanked his leg back out towards her, causing the boy to squeal in pain._

_"I'm not old you annoying brat! I'll have you know, that I can turn you into a cockroach if I wanted to!"_

_The boy's brown eyes gleamed with a challenging glint as he yanked his leg back again._

_"Yea right, you big old liar! Like an old hag like you could do that!" Her patience with the boy was quickly diminishing, especially with that smirk he suddenly made appear on his face._

_She yanked the leg back out, and grasped the boy's injured leg tightly in her hand. Ichigo had cringed at the contact and tried to free himself from her grip, but she refused. That's when he decided to start throwing rocks at her._

_Rukia should have just abandoned him then and there, let him meet his death there on that lonely patch of forest. But she couldn't, and didn't. Even to this day, she questions herself as to why she never left Ichigo's side._

_"All right you stupid brat!" she let his leg free, and quickly rose back up and grabbed her basket. "Sorry for trying to help! I won't bother you again."_

_She huffed at him, and then went on her way, leaving the boy alone and confused._

_She had healed him anyway, using her healing abilities, she had closed up the wound as if it were never there. It was the only way to get rid of him, and to prove her point about being able to turn him into a cockroach if she had wanted to._

_She didn't know why, Rukia was never one to be easily aggravated, but the boy had pushed on her last nerves with the old hag thing he pulled._

_"Good riddance." She mumbled angrily to herself._

_He was way past her now, but when she had first met him, she was taller than him by a good three inches._

_It was how she saw him again, not more than five minutes after healing him and ditching him. Her violet eyes burned holes into his head as he looked up at her. A fistful of her cloak held tightly in his small hand, he scowled at her, and mumbled._

_"Y-You didn't let me say thanks..." his eyes wandered down, and he folded his arms across his chest defiantly._

_"I don't need your thanks, little fool, so be off with you." She hadn't meant for her tone to be so cold, but she was still pretty pissed off at that orange haired boy._

_"If you don't thank a witch, your family gets cursed though, don't they?" He asked loudly as she began to walk away again._

_Her violet eyes widened and she turned to stare at the boy suspiciously. "H-How do you know that..."_

_He smirked again, and rubbed his nose. "You healed my leg without that balm lady. It was pretty damn obvious to me." and then he scowled as he sent her a small glare. "Not to mention you threatened to turn me into a bug, lady."_

_Rukia mentally slapped herself, she should have just left him there. Or she could have tried to not let the hot-head in her get the best of her._

_Her shoulders drooped and she turned to the boy. "W-Will you report me to your village now little guy?" she asked half-heartedly, a small and sad smile on her face._

_She was pretty sure Ichigo had noticed that look, otherwise that damn ten year old wouldn't have said what he had said._

_"No, my mommy raised me better than that. I won't tell." Her eyes widened at the sincerity in his words. "Besides, I'd say we're even now right lady?"_

_His boyish grin brought so much relief into her heart, Rukia can still feel it whenever he comes to visit._

_"Ah, thank you." Rukia walked over to him and extended out her hand._

_His brown eyes held confusion and curiosity as he stared at her closed palm. His eyes then looked up at her and she smiled._

_"Open your hand."_

_He nodded slowly, and saw something brown and shiny fall into his hand._

_"It's an amber stone. I've had it since my childhood, it's like a good luck charm. To protect your family I suppose. You should wear it when you get home."_

_He grinned again, and eagerly began to look for a string in his pocket. Her eyes softened considerably as she watched him search frantically for a piece of string._

_The boy wasn't that bad, though he needed a huge attitude adjustment, he had a sort of kindness to him she found interesting._

_'And the little brat isn't going to reveal the truth of what I am, just by doing that he earned a huge okay in my book.'_

_"I best be on my way then. These herbs only work at their best when they're bottled up fresh." her eyes widened in realization though, as she watched the boy nodding at her. She didn't know his name._

_"By the way, what's your name?" She tried not to giggle at the innocent look that overcame the boy at her question._

_"It's Ichigo." he mumbled as he played with the amber stone now happily tied around his lithe neck._

_"Ah, that's a very nice name. Strong meaning." She seemed to be talking to herself as she once again began to continue her walk home._

_"W-What about yours lady?" He half-yelled, a dusty pink blush on his face. The scowl she now seemed so familiar with again on his face._

_"Rukia." was her simple reply as she kept on walking, her back facing him. She waved goodbye to the boy as she continued on her path._

_She never noticed, not even to this day, the small smile that appeared on the boy's face, or the way he seemed to mouth out her name like a prayer he didn't want to forget._

_Rukia thought that would be the last time she ever saw of the strange, annoying, orange-haired boy she had found in the woods. In fact, she genuinely believed it since she had been without his presence for nearly a month._

_He had come back though, on a rather cool July day. It had been raining and he had just barged into her hut. As if it was the most common thing for him to do, visiting a witch in the middle of the woods. (She honestly doesn't really know how Ichigo had found her home, though she gave up on asking him ages ago.) To say she was both shocked and angry at his brashness would have been an understatement. Her violet eyes formed a scowl as he sent her a childish smirk and sat on a nearby chair._

_He had grown a bit taller since that month, and he looked even scrawnier than before._

_"I thought I'd visit you. I heard old witches go crazy without cats to keep them company." he had teased at her._

_"Bite me, you loathsome carrot top." was her retort, and she received a grunt and annoyed looking Ichigo for it._

_She grabbed a small pouch from a table and threw it at the boy. He caught in his hand and raised an eyebrow._

_"For your birthday, it was two days ago wasn't it?" her back was still facing him as she kept mixing different potions together for a brew she was making._

_She received an embarrassed blush, and a small smile from the boy. She smiled back._

_And so started their strange relationship. He would visit her when he could, and she would stop by the outskirts of his village with a new little trinket for him to play with or to give to his little sisters. She would provide him with medicine to help his family and other villagers, and he would provide her with something she never knew she had needed._

_Friendship._

_A witch beyond a hundred years, had befriended an eleven year old boy. She had truly sunk to a new low for her kind._

_Yet, as the years passed, and the little boy she had met slowly grew into a healthy and undeniably handsome fifteen year old, she was beginning to accept that this friendship was never bad at all._

_Not at all._

_He would still visit her, and she would still give him little souvenirs she would collect from her travels. Their friendship was a strange one, and had formed under even stranger circumstances, but both seemed to have thought nothing of it. Continuing being near each other, as if it was the most natural thing to do._

_They both seemed perfectly content with that as well. _

_--_

Her smile held irony as her dream ended, and consciousness once again called her back to the reality she was now in.

So odd, for her to dream of such a distant memory. She could hardly believe she recalled it at all, she was sure Ichigo had forgotten their first meeting by now.

Perhaps it was because she was accepting her fate, that her mind now replayed all her precious thoughts again.

Or perhaps she just loved the boy, and wanted to have one last happy little dream of him before she meets her end through torches and pitchforks.

Yes, she smiled weakly as the first signs of rain echoed across the dark forest, that sounds nice. To die knowing you loved a stubborn, idiotic, and wonderful orange-haired boy.

She felt a drop of rain fall on her pale cheek, and then another, followed by another. Soon, the forest was echoing with the sounds of soft pattering as the rain fell.

She could hear the sounds of the villagers again, their screams and protests resounding across the forest just as much as the rain itself.

She opened her violet eyes slightly, and watched the serene look of the forest being washed by the rain. Her smile turned genuine as she watched each heavy droplet fall from the trees and unto the ground.

"Thank you." she whispered into the night, the sounds of the villagers getting even louder. "Goodbye."

She closed her eyes again, and waited. Waited for the end she knew would come. Waited for those voices to be right by her face, shouting out victorious words. Waited for her life to end, and for her afterlife to start.

None of those ever came.

"Idiot, what the hell are you doing?! Sitting there like some helpless little girl!" That loud angry voice, she knew it.

She opened her eyes, and wasn't as surprised as she thought she would be, as she was met with angry and intense brown eyes.

His expression was one of extreme agitation as the rain soaked them both. His breath was coming out raggedly and short, his orange wild hair was now plastered on his face. A small bag was slung loosely on his right shoulder, and the pendant she had given him years ago, dangled down his neck.

She smiled as the sounds of the villagers seemed to once again dim away. Her violet eyes left his face and turned to look at the drizzle of rain falling around them.

"I thought you'd thrown that away." she spoke softly, the exhaustion in her voice obvious to the young man.

Ichigo grabbed the pendant out of habit and scoffed, "Stop changing the damn subject Rukia." he clucked his tongue disapprovingly as he put the hood of her cloak on her head. "You're all wet moron. Here I thought you'd be able to take care of yourself better than this."

She ignored him as he kept up his talk of his disappointment at her actions that led her to her current situation. She was staring at his hands, they were trembling. His eyes, held fear and relief, all swimming in those wonderful brown eyes of his.

"I knew there was no way you'd be able to hide forever, should have listened to me from the start. Maybe then you wouldn't have gotten into this fucking mess. You owe me big time Rukia."

His voice trembled as he spoke, and he was starting to lose that tone of strong anger he had only minutes before.

Her violet eyes softened the way they did the first time she had met him. When he was scared and confused in the middle of a forest. All alone.

Her pale petite hand covered his own as he was tightening the cloak around her. His body stilled, but his hands remained trembling, his breathing was heavy.

"I'm sorry." She smiled at the quivering breath that left his lips. He was relieved, and happy. She could tell.

"Yea." was all he said, before he slowly lifted her from the forest floor and cradled her against his chest.

She could walk on her own, she wasn't injured, but...she leaned her head some more against his chest.

She liked to hear his heartbeat as he walked through forest.

She thought they would remain in silence, his brooding attitude too tiring for her to attempt to stop with her words. She had concluded it would be best to let him vent any left over anger. Besides she was tired and just wanted to sleep.

It seemed he still wanted to talk though, to make sure she was still alive, that he had arrived in time.

"I lied about throwing away the stone." he spoke softly. "I thought, that if you thought I threw it away, you'd give me back what you stole from me."

Her eyes clouded with confusion for a moment, she was half-asleep when he had decided to speak to her again, but they were soon cleared. He had a funny way of wording things, especially his feelings, but she understood.

"I see. I'm glad you didn't throw it away then, you idiot. Otherwise, you would have broken what you stole from me."

She answered his words, using his own logic. It seems she had learned from him too.

She heard the deep rumble from his chest as he chuckled at her words. He jumped over an uprooted tree and walked towards a distant bridge.

"That so? Glad to hear neither of us broke anything then."

A few silent minutes passed by the two as Ichigo reached the bridge and crossed it. Rukia stared at what her vision could allow as he kept following the path through the forest.

Then, she abruptly spewed words of doubt to him.

"You don't have to do this. Saving me would be pointless. Don't you think?"

"Shut up and go to sleep."

"Your life won't be the same with me by your side. Normality ended the moment you lifted me from the ground Ichigo."

She was shifted in his arms roughly as he jumped over another fallen tree. Her violet eyes streaked with anger for a moment.

"I said to shut up and go to sleep you midget witch. You talk too much." He sighed. "I'm doing this cause I wanted to, and nothing else. Thought you'd be smart enough to know that much. So shut your mouth and let it go. You're stuck with me whether you want it or not."

She knew it was pointless. Even as late as the attempt was, she still wanted to try. She resigned herself and leaned her head against his chest again.

"Annoying little brat." She mumbled angrily.

"Old hag." he retorted, his hands tightening around her small form.

She smiled.

"Thank you. For everything." 'For staying with me.'

"Ah." 'I'd stay with you without a second thought.'

--

Rumors started shortly after their disappearance. Many of them state that a group of travelers spotted a tall young man with bright orange hair walking with a small black haired woman with a cloak around her. A look of happiness and peace in their eyes.

They say the travelers saw the two vanish towards the path that lead to the mountains, the woman holding the young man's hand tightly in her own.

The travelers say they were lovers. A witch and a normal young man who had found that the only means of being together was to leave the normal lives of humans.

Many people still say, that if you walk the same path the supposed lovers took those many years ago, you can hear the distinct sound of happy laughter echoing throughout the forest.

Others say, that if you arrive at the point where the road ends and the path to the mountains begin late in the evening, you can still see the forms of two figures, hand in hand, disappear into the path.

Then again, those are just rumors.

* * *

**That ending will come back to haunt me later, I just know it. Oh well, what will be, will be.  
I'm hoping it still caught some of you lol. Thanks for reading.  
End.**


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